Nathan Seppa
Biomedical Writer (retired September 2015)
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All Stories by Nathan Seppa
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Health & Medicine
Visual Clarity: People with MS maintain eyesight with drug
A drug for multiple sclerosis seems to prevent subtle vision loss in many patients.
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Health & Medicine
Agents of Metastasis: Four proteins conspire in breast cancer spread
Four proteins work together to assist cancer growth and metastasis, and drugs against them inhibit both processes, tests in mice suggest.
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Health & Medicine
Augmenting the good cholesterol
A reconstituted version of good cholesterol may lessen the amount of plaque that accumulates in arteries and render existing plaque less dangerous.
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Health & Medicine
Not-So-Artful Dodgers: Countering drug tests with niacin proves dangerous
Attempts to cleanse illicit drugs from one's body by taking large doses of niacin can cause life-threatening reactions.
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Health & Medicine
Meningitis vaccine stops ear infections
A vaccine for meningitis and pneumonia also prevents many childhood ear infections and the complications that they cause.
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Health & Medicine
Patches take sting out of canker sores
Small patches that exude licorice extract can speed healing of canker sores.
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Health & Medicine
Working in a cotton mill has bright side
People who work amid bales of raw cotton are less likely to get lung cancer than are people in the general population, a study of Chinese women indicates. While past research has shown that workers in a cotton mill tend to develop shortness of breath, chronic cough, and other health problems, some scientists also noted […]
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Health & Medicine
Balancing Act: Excess steroids during pregnancy may pose risks for offspring
Heavy amounts of steroids taken during pregnancy can have long-term deleterious effects on offspring, a study of monkeys shows.
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Health & Medicine
Hepatitis B found in wrestlers’ sweat
Traces of hepatitis B have turned up in the perspiration of wrestlers, suggesting that the virus could spread to their opponents and teammates.
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Health & Medicine
Preemies respond to immunizations
Babies born prematurely rev up an immune response to two routine childhood vaccines as well as babies who are born full-term.
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Humans
Bad Influence: TV, movies linked to adolescent smoking
White adolescents who have frequent exposure to television and R-rated movies are more likely to try smoking than are their peers with less exposure to these media.
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Health & Medicine
Long-Term Threat
Survivors of a childhood cancer face a sixfold risk of developing a new cancer later in life, compared with people in the general population.